4722 Hours on 4546B
by Z.R. Stein
Summary: The depths of this alien ocean hold many mysteries. Creatures beyond comprehension. Secret technology. Things scarcely imaginable. Who better to uncover it all than the best and brightest that SHIELD has to offer?


Jemma came to consciousness slowly.

The first sensation she registered was cold. She was lying on something, most likely a metal surface, that sapped the heat from her body, leaving her with a pervading sense of numbness that would have been more alarming if she was fully aware of it.

The second sensation Jemma noted was the smell. The air was surprisingly warm, and had a pleasant, almost floral scent to it. When compared to the rather sterile smell of Ragtag Base, the change was a welcome one.

That thought was enough to jolt Simmons' out of her stupor, and she opened her eyes, mind moving at a million miles a second as she remembered.

Fitz had opened the containment module that held the Monolith. And it had...swallowed her, dropping her here, in a...cave of some sort.

With a grunt of exertion, Jemma began leveraging herself up into a sitting position. The cave she was in was surprisingly large and well lit, though everything was tinted green. Bluish metal pillars extended from the floor to the ceiling, emerald lines tracing their surfaces and illuminating the cave. Alien technology, Simmons noted absently, or at least it looked like it. The ground of the cave was covered in grass and moss, though the ground that she was sitting on was made of the same material as the pillars.

Turning around, Jemma saw a much larger structure, again made of the same metal as the pillars but in a diamond shape. Designs reminding her of circuitry twisted on the face of the metal, intertwining with green lines for some unknown purpose. It reminded her of the stargates from _Stargate_, honestly.

The body on the ground in front of the structure quickly dashed all thought of stargates from her mind.

"Fitz!"

Jemma scrambled towards Fitz, arms and legs protesting as the pervasive numbness gave way to painful pins and needles. She didn't care though. She needed to make sure that Fitz was ok.

Reaching the still body of her best friend, Jemma pressed her fingers to his neck, then took her fingers off and shook her arm. After she'd regained feeling in her fingers, Jemma tried again to check for Fitz' pulse, and sighed in relief when she found it. She sat back, and watched as his chest slowly rose and fell for a few moments, thinking to herself.

"Oh Fitz...what have we gotten ourselves into this time…"

After another minute of waiting for Fitz to wake up, Simmons began to get antsy. She never was good at sitting still. Seeing as how Fitz was alive, but unconscious, and he didn't seem to be getting up anytime soon, Jemma decided that she would take a look around the cave, properly this time, and document everything she saw. While she did want to take a look at the arch, she doubted that there'd be something as simple as an On switch on it, and engineering was more Fitz' area. She wouldn't go too far, and Fitz was still here, so if Coulson sent a team after them, he'd be fine.

It took a bit of effort to get to her feet, but once she was upright, she smiled, and retrieved her phone from her pocket.

Turning her phone on, Jemma began recording a voicelog, "This is Doctor Jemma SImmons, updating a file on the Monolith Fitz and I have been studying. I now know that it is an alternating matter transportation device, or portal. Quite remarkable really." Jemma turned towards the arch structure and snapped a picture. "The portal that we were studying appears to have linked to another portal, of a surprisingly different variety that has now deactivated." Jemma continued photographing the cave, taking note of some large, pink and purple mushrooms growing within the cave and snapped more pictures of them. "Unknown flora is growing here in the cave, possibly alien." Simmons hopped up and down once. "Strike that, definitely alien. Gravity is noticeably lower than that of Earth. Maybe a 10% difference, I won't know for sure until Fitz and I conduct more standardized tests. We're on an unknown alien planet in another solar system. Fascinating!"

Simmons continued exploring the cave, noting a draft of warm air near one of the walls. Turning a corner as she followed the draft, she discovered a tunnel leading upwards, and she could see just the barest hint of sunlight streaming through an opening. Simmons followed the tunnel, and after a minute of climbing came to an overlook onto a closed off lagoon of sorts. The path that she had been following also split off to the left and continued upwards, likely leading out to a more accessible exit; she could just barely hear the sound of ocean waves. The water smelled salty, almost like the oceans back on Earth, though with an undercurrent of something she couldn't identify.

"Breathable air and liquid water, though the water is almost certainly not drinkable in it's current state. Still, very good. If there's liquid water and vegetation, then there should be fresh water. And if not, I'm sure we can improvise a way to harvest water. The temperature on the surface is quite warm, I'd say at least 35 degrees Celsius. That's 95 degrees for any of you Americans listening back in on this." Simmons mind flashed to Coulson, Skye, Mack, and all the others, and she felt her mood dip sharply before soldiering on. Now was not the time to fall to despair.

Seeing as how the only way out into the lagoon was a five meter drop, Simmons turned back and took the upwards pathway of the tunnel. Two minutes later, she reached the exit of the cave, and her jaw dropped open as the phone recorded silently.

The only thing in sight for miles and miles was ocean, waves lapping endlessly on the horizon. The alien sun hung high in the sky, the Earth-equivalent of noon, and lower than the sun was a planet or moon that was either very large or very close, as it was at least twenty times larger than the Moon appeared to be back on Earth.

Jemma licked her lips as dozens of emotions fought for control in her mind. After a moment, though, one won out.

"Oh...it's beautiful."

. . .

Leopold Fitz came to consciousness slowly. Scrunching his eyes up, he blearily wondered why his body hurt all over, and decided that he'd need a massage before going on his dinner date with Jemma.

Fitz' eyes snapped open.

"Jemma?" he managed to croak out. He was in a cave. Everything was tinted green, and the last thing he remembered was...accidentally opening the Monolith's containment module when he asked Simmons out on a date.

And then it has eaten both of them. Oh no.

Rolling over, Fitz propped himself up on his arms as he looked around. Simmons was nowhere to be seen, though he did take several moments to look over the clearly alien archway that had presumably dumped them here. Normally he'd be all over alien technology, but at the moment he had bigger concerns.

Swallowing a mouthful of dusty saliva, Fitz tried to call for Simmons again, much louder this time.

"Jemma!?"

His loud voice echoed throughout the cave, and after a moment, he heard a distant response.

"Fitz!"

Relief flooding through his system, Fitz leveraged himself up into a sitting position.

"Jemma! Where are you!"

"I'm coming Fitz, I was just having a look around. I found the exit to the cave!" came the response, still faint but getting louder.

By the time Fitz had managed to stand up, Jemma was back, and she almost knocked him right back down onto the ground when she hugged him.

"Whoa...hey Jemma."

Their bodies pressed together as they took some small measure of comfort in being together. Fitz pressed his nose into the crook of her neck and breathed in, as if to reassure himself that she was here.

Wherever here was.

After a long moment, Simmons broke away, a smile on her face.

"Fitz, oh my goodness, we're on an alien world!"

Fitz smiled at her enthusiasm, feeling the same emotion stirring within himself, though it was tempered by worry.

"Yeah, I guessed something like that from the Stargate. So, you found a way out of the cave?"

Simmons nodded.

"We'll need to explore more thoroughly, but right now, my hypothesis is that we're on a tropical island in the middle of an ocean, or maybe just a peninsula. There's liquid water, plenty of alien vegetation...I don't know if any of it is edible or not, but still...no fauna yet, but I was only out there for a minute before I heard you calling."

Jemma paused and looked over at the alien archway.

"And, that...of course."

Fitz nodded a couple times, moving towards the archway with Simmons. Reaching the arch, he began running his hands over the intricately designed metal. Fitz heard a snapping sound, and looked to see Simmons taking pictures. Smiling, Fitz fished his own phone out of his pocket and began doing the same.

The inspection of the arch took two hours, according to their phones, and they found absolutely nothing in that time. No recognizable machinery, no access ports, not even a button. If there was a way to activate the portal, they either lacked the tools or knowledge to do so, or they simply couldn't do it from this end.

Fitz stood back, rubbing at his eyes as he looked at the archway. SHIELD protocol was vague on unintentional travel to other planets, but in a situation where an agent found themselves in an unfamiliar place and weren't in immediate danger, it was protocol to wait around for an extraction from SHIELD.

But an extraction from SHIELD was unlikely, for multiple reasons. Fitz knew that Coulson would want to get them back, but he didn't know that the Monolith was a portal. For all that the Director knew, the portal had killed him and Simmons, and it would kill any team that they sent though it. So, the Director would study it from their end first. And he'd have to do so without his two lead scientists.

Of course, the portal might open on its own. The Monolith had liquefied randomly, the time between such events lasting between one and five hours. It was probably their best bet at the moment to return.

Fitz turned to Simmons and rubbed the back of his head.

"I think we should confirm that it won't open on it's own. The Monolith's greatest recorded time between liquefactions was five hours and twenty seven minutes. If it activates, we'll need to be quick, but we should be able to make it."

Simmons nodded, looking up from inspecting a pink mushroom that she'd plucked from the ground with her sleeve covered hand.

"And if it doesn't?"

"I think...we don't have tools, or food, or water. Sooner or later we're going to have to leave the cave and start looking for all three. Maybe there's an alien settlement nearby, or the remnants of one." Fitz sucked in air through his teeth. "And I guess...we'll go from there. Survive on an alien planet...if we have to. Like bloody Bear Grylls."

Simmons smiled at him.

"Oh Fitz, I'm sure everything will work out alright. We've already been tremendously lucky. Why, we could've been dumped on a planet with no atmosphere, or a planet where it's always night, or a wasteland. You have to admit, landing on the alien equivalent of the Hawaiin islands is quite nice, isn't it?"

Fitz' lips quirked.

"Suppose so. Still...I was looking forwards to our dinner."

Simmons' expression changed, and she lowered the mushroom in her hand.

"I admit, the locale isn't quite what I was expecting, but it has its own charm. Unless you'd rather put it off until we get back?" Simmons asked, a strange lilt to her voice that Fitz had never heard before.

"Uh...well, no reason we can't do both. Go on our dinner date when we get back that is. If you want to, that is. Uh...go with me. If you're hungry."

Simmons quirked an eyebrow before she giggled awkwardly, tossing her mushroom away.

"The bright coloration could very well indicate that its poisonous, so I'm afraid we don't have many options for eating down here. Unless you want to try some...no, terrible idea really."

The two of them lapsed into silence, and after a few moments, Jemma sat down against a nearby rock. After a moment, Fitz joined her, and she leaned her head onto his shoulder.

"We'll be alright Fitz, I know it. We have each other. We'll get back and we'll see everyone again and we'll go to dinner."

Fitz moved his head to kiss the top of Simmons' head and intertwined his fingers with hers.

"Yeah...yeah, we will. I promise."

. . .

Three hours of occasional small talk and staring at nothing later, Fitz briefly turned on his phone to check the time before grunting.

"So...it's not going to activate from this end."

Simmons hummed to herself and picked herself up off the ground, dusting off her pants with both hands.

"We knew it was a distinct possibility. I don't suppose you have any paper on you, or a pen?"

Fitz shook his head.

"I searched my pockets earlier. I have my wallet, my phone, and my Swiss Army Knife. How about you?"

Simmons slipped her phone into her pocket and responded "Just my phone. I left my wallet on the table, along with all of my tools. Oh, what I wouldn't give to have been dragged through the portal with some of those."

"I'd rather not have been dragged through at all."

Simmons gave Fitz a look.

"Well, we're here now. Can you use your knife to scratch out a message on something? Just in case someone does come through the portal?"

Fitz picked up a large, flat rock off the ground and flipped open the blade of his knife.

"'F & S were here. Gone to Explore.' That should be good enough, right?" Fitz placed the message on the ground and left his jacket next to it.

With that done, Fitz followed Simmons up through the exit tunnel, stopping briefly to look out the overlook onto the small lagoon; Fitz noted that there was a dull purple glow under the water if he looked hard enough, or maybe that was just a trick of the light. Finally, the two of them reached the exit, and Fitz' eyes widened.

"Whoa."

As Fitz took in the alien ocean, Simmons frowned up at the sun, noting its position.

"It's been just over five hours since I was last up here, and the sun's that much lower in the sky. The days here are shorter than they were on Earth, at least compared to Ragtag base when we left."

"Mmm. That moon or planet must produce some strong tides though, what with how close it is."

Simmons looked down towards the shoreline and frowned.

"Actually, the water level hasn't changed in the slightest. Odd."

Fitz hummed as well, the two of them thinking about why that could be. After a moment, Fitz had an idea.

"What if...we're floating?"

Simmons blinked twice and looked at Fitz.

"A floating island? Surely not, the level of buoyancy needed to keep a chunk of rock this size afloat would be astronomical."

"Maybe so, but you yourself said the water level hasn't changed. With a moon that close, the tidal differences would be massive, a few dozen meters at least. So, either the moon doesn't exert any tidal forces on the planet, which is ridiculous, or this island is floating, and thus the tidal change simply raises it relative to the seafloor."

Simmons' lips thinned into a line as she thought.

"The rock that the island is made out of isn't pumice though, and the ones that I've picked up seemed quite dense. Most likely it's some form of basalt, which is far too heavy to float in water."

Fitz shrugged.

"Maybe there are large caves that act as natural air pockets, or some form of organism is holding the island up, like a massive network of kelp. Who knows. At least this means we won't have to worry about the tidal changes."

Simmons conceded the point, and the two of them resumed their exploration of the island they were marooned on.

. . .

After a few more minutes of wandering along the cliffs underneath glowing blue trees, Simmons found a different kind of tree with a large number of orange fruits hanging from its branches. Plucking one, she examined it, noting its leathery exterior before calling out to Fitz.

"Hey Fitz, can I borrow your knife?"

Fitz, who had been examining a different purple plant that resembled a rather beautiful vase, nodded and tossed it to her.

Cutting the fruit open, Jemma found that it had dozens of large seeds, and pale yellow flesh. She took a tentative sniff, and finding it pleasant, licked her lips.

"I suppose we'll just have to trust our bodies natural poison detectors on thei one."

Taking a small bite, Simmons chewed for a moment. The flavor of the fruit was surprisingly bland and dry, and seemed similar in taste to a pear. Still, it wasn't bitter, sour, or unpleasant in any way, which hopefully meant it was edible.

"Well? How is it?"

Simmons passed the fruit to Fitz in response, who took a bite of his own. After a moment his face scrunched up.

"I never liked pears that much, and this is even blander. Can't be much nutritional value to this. Or water, with how dry the flesh is."

"Still" said Simmons back "It's a start. And if we can eat one thing, there's likely other things that we can eat."

With that said, the two of them continued.

The sun was close to setting when the two of them finally broke through the tree cover, emerging onto a high ledge. Simmons noted that they were definitely on an island; however, that observation was quickly trumped by another.

"Look, Fitz, more alien structures!"

There were two more structures in sight. On top of a distant mountain she could barely see the sunlight glinting off a spherical metal or glass structure, and below them, not more than a hundred meters away was a small collection of buildings. They were circular, and connected together with large tubes. Simmons also spotted what looked like growbeds, with plants growing inside of them that she hadn't seen on the hike up here.

Simmons beamed at Fitz, who also had a smile on his face, though that dimmed once he looked closer.

"Well, there's also some kind of fauna down there."

Taking a second look, Simmons barely spotted three crablike things that, going by the size of the buildings were quite large for crabs. She worried at her lips for a moment before grabbing a downed branch and passing it to Fitz.

"If they're aggressive, we'll deal with it. This is too great a chance to pass up." she said as she grabbed a branch for herself.

The two of them nodded and headed down the slope, Fitz slipping once on the shifting gravel before adjusting his speed.

As they drew closer to the buildings, Simmons noted how overgrown the structures were. THe archway back in the cave had been pristine, while these buildings were covered in moss and dirt. She wasn't sure if that was a sign that these buildings were older, or simply that the cave had prevented overgrowth. Or perhaps, Simmons thought to herself, the archway underwent regular maintenance from the aliens who built it.

When they were within a few meters of the buildings, the crabs noticed them, and they started hissing. Fitz levelled his stick towards them threateningly, his knife tied to the end. With a thin bit of vine.

"Now stay back, Sebastian, or we'll be having crab for dinner tonight."

The three crabs hissed louder, and then, they leapt at the two of them.

Simmons shrieked, taken by surprise by the unexpected charge, and she batted the first one out of the air. It made a dull thunk as it went tumbling over the edge of a small cliff.

Meanwhile, Fitz had managed to stab one of the crabs in the large blue organ that resembled an eye on top of its head, and it was spasming on the ground. The other crab, however, was still alive, and Fitz was forced to hop out of the way without his makeshift spear as it leapt for him again.

Simmons wound up like a golfer and smacked the crab as hard as she could. It tumbled through the air, smacking against the side of one of the buildings and fell to the ground. Still alive, but disoriented, it started to drag itself back towards them.

Fitz grabbed his spear out of the dead crab and thrust it into the eye of the wounded one. It, too, spasmed before lying still, dead.

Simmons looked around for any more crabs trying to attack them, and when she found none, let out a slightly panicked laugh.

"See? Nothing to be worried about."

Fitz, who was catching his breath, shook his head.

"Always the optimist."

Simmons smiled and hefted her stick, moving forwards to inspect the buildings. Now that they were closer, Simmons noticed just how different in construction they were from the alien archway. The metal was covered in moss and dirt, but what few clean sections she could see were colored white or silver. There were no green luminescent lines or intricate circuit patterns. One of the buildings had a large window that was broken in, and looking inside, it was clear that a rockslide had broken another window, allowing gravel to flood the room.

Stepping over the remnants of broken glass carefully, Simmons bent down and picked up a strange purple slab with a large symbol on it.

"Fascinating."

Behind her, Fitz entered the room, taking note of the overturned chairs and desks. There was a piece of blue glass on the only upright desk, and Fitz picked it up.

"Looks like a tablet, almost. Like something Apple would make. I wonder…"

Fitz examined the white handgrip for any buttons, and found a switch. Flipping it on, the tablet lit up, and symbols began appearing onscreen.

"Bjelti fay."

Hearing the computerized feminine voice, Simmons turned away from her inspection of the glowing purple slab and walked over to Fitz in time to see a circular loading bar appear on the screen.

Simmons' lips pulled upwards at the joyous expression on Fitz' face. Alien technology it may be, but the tablet was a tangible step forwards for them. Even if they couldn't understand it.

As the tablet booted up, Fitz and Simmon saw a list of menus, and the alien voice continued speaking in a flat tone.

"Myet tan bort tie Torgal fie nied. Tahn el em shay?"

Fitz began tapping on menus and grimacing.

"It's gonna be unpleasant trying to make this thing understandable to us."

The tablet beeped, and then it said "Terran language 'English' detected. Greetings, Terrans."

Fitz looked at Simmons in shock, and then both of them looked at the tablet.

"Uh...hello," said Simmons. "Are you...an AI?"

"Yes. I am the personal AI of Praul Torgal. You may call me Quinn. May I ask for your names."

"Ah.. Fitz. Doctor Leo Fitz."

"Jemma Simmons."

"Greetings, Jemma Simmona and Ah Fitz Doctor Leo Fitz. How may I be of assistance?"

Fitz coughed, and Jemma looked at him, amused.

"Actually it's just Leo Fitz. Or just Fitz, Quinn."

"Acknowledged, Fitz. How may I be of assistance?"

Simmons leaned in closer and asked "Praul Torgal, can you tell us about him?"

"Of course. Praul Torgal is a majority shareholder in the Torgal Corporation. He was born 89 standard Xandarian years ago in the city of Krech, and later went on to found the Torgal Corporation there, where its headquarters presumably still stand to this day. Praul Torgal has one son, Brart Torgal, the heir to the corporation, who crashed on this planet along with his father and a Kree mercenary named Maida ten years, three months, and seven standard Xandarian hours ago."

Fitz blinked rapidly.

"You mean there are other people here...alive people?"

The AI was silent for a moment.

"Unknown."

Fitz frowned, glancing at the rundown base around them.

"Quinn, how long has it been since you've been in contact with Praul, Brart, or Maida."

"Nine years, seven months, and fourteen standard hours."

Simmons licked her lips.

"What can you tell us about this planet, Quinn?"

"This planet, designated 4546B, is an oceanic planet. 99.5% of the planet's surface is covered by liquid salt water. The gravity is 84% of Xandar's, and the air is comprised of 69% nitrogen, 29% oxygen, 1.1% water vapor, 0.41% argon, 0.04 percent carbon dioxide, and 0.45% other elements. This planet is protected by an orbital cannon. The fauna of this planet are-"

"Wait, wait, orbital cannon?" asked Simmons.

"Indeed. The Degasi was shot down on attempting to land on the planet's surface and crash landed here on this island."

"Why, why'd it shoot them down?"

"This planet is infected with the Kharaa bacterium."

Simmons took in a deep breath.

"It's under quarantine…"

"Affirmative. The alien race which inhabited this planet before built the orbital cannon to prevent the bacterium from spreading offplanet. This fact was unknown when Praul attempted to land here."

Simmons went silent, and Fitz did as well, before Simmons perked back up.

"We didn't come here on a ship though, we came through a portal. It sucked us up and spit us out here, through some kind of archway."

"No known archways connect offplanet. They may be activated with an ion cube or a similar high density power source, but the only two discovered archways that Praul, Brart, and Maida activated linked to each other. The archway on this island connects to the Quarantine Enforcement Platform where the orbital cannon is."

Simmons bit her lip, and she felt Fitz hand settle over hers.

"Jemma...as important and fascinating as this all is...it's starting to get dark outside."

Jemma looked up, and noticed that the sun had indeed just set. Night was falling, and she didn't relish the idea of staying in this room with the broken window while those crabs were outside.

"Ah, right...Quinn, are any of these other buildings undamaged?"

"Unknown. I suggest you use your eyes to inspect them."

Fitz snorted, and he held his hand out to Simmons to step out of the window.

"It's a sassy alien AI, isn't it. Use your eyes."

The two of them walked towards the other one of the buildings, this one far enough away that it had been spared the rockslide. It was smaller, but it looked to be in better condition. There was a tube connecting it to the building that they had just been in, though they hadn't seen an entrance which meant it was likely blocked.

Luckily, they found another entrance, by climbing on top of the round room. Fitz went in first, holding the spear just in case there was another crab.

Luckily it wasn't needed, and the two of them entered inside through the ajar door. There was a ladder in the center of the small room leading downwards, and on the left side an unrolled bedroll along with a few bits of alien machinery. There was a folded canvas blanket sitting on top of the bedroll. Fitz looked around the cramped space and took note of the various fangs and bones along the right side of the room, and the assortment of knives hanging from the wall.

"Who slept here, Quinn?"

"This module was the sleeping area of Maida. She tended to rub Praul the wrong way and requested her own area."

"The Kree Mercenary. Makes sense. Not entirely sure I want to sleep in a dead person's bed, specially not one who had this kind of collection."

Simmons sighed and said, "Not like we have much of a choice, do we? We'll make the best of it."

Simmons grabbed the door handle and pulled, a loud squeal coming from the hinges as it moved. With a grunt, the door moved into place, and Simmons twisted the handle to lock it.

"A bulkhead. That should keep out anything that wants to get in."

Fitz nodded, inspecting one of the fangs. He sighed.

"It's been a long day. I'm tired. And I just want to go home. Damn it. Damn it all." He set the fang down and rubbed his temples. After a moment, he felt Simmons hands on his shoulders.

"It'll be alright Fitz. We'll solve the problems as they come. Come on...let's sleep for now. Tomorrow we'll look into food and the archway and everything else. For now, we need to rest."

Fitz nodded, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. He looked over at the bedroll, then at Simmons, and smirked.

"There's only one bedroll."

Simmons looked down at it and jerked her head.

"Well...I suppose for the sake of preserving body heat...we'll just have to share it, won't we?"

"I suppose we will."

Fitz laid down on the bedroll first, looking up at Simmons with a hesitant expression in his eyes. Simmons sat down gently next to him, looking at him for a long moment, eyes flickering to his lips before she said "Goodnight Leo."

"...goodnight Jemma."

Simmons turned away from Fitz, and after a moment of looking at her, Fitz reached down and grabbed the folded blanket, unfolding it and spreading it over the top of them.

Hours later, the only sounds heard in the module was the light breathing of the two scientists, asleep on an alien world a galaxy away from their homeworld.


End file.
